Where Should Democrats Eat BBQ in Charlotte?

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If they're smart, they won't. If you think Washington is hyper-partisan, it's nothing compared to the way North Carolinians feel about their eastern and western styles of barbecue. But both contingents agree on this: Charlotte, host of this week's Democratic convention, isn't where you go for either.

Michelle Obama discovered this at her peril when, in a press release last year announcing the convention, she noted Charlotte's "great barbecue." Inadvertently, the First Lady brought the state's two food factions together, as they chided her in unison (probably too aggressively) for what was viewed as pandering or ignorance or both.

The good news is that conventioneers can sample truly great barbecue, Western-style, within an hour's drive of Charlotte. To pig out on the eastern style, they'll have to make more of a commitment: The drive is at least three hours long.

Eastern style is pulled or chopped whole hog, seasoned with a pepper-vinegar. If served as a sandwich, the meat comes topped with mayonnaise-based coleslaw and piled onto a hamburger bun. Western style, also known as Lexington or Piedmont style, uses pork shoulder and its sauce — called a "dip" — has a little ketchup or other tomato-based product in it, and tends to be sweeter than the Eastern-style sauce. Its coleslaw typically uses the dip, or some version of it, as a base, instead of mayonnaise.

For Eastern style, they recommend Skylight Inn in Ayden and Wilber's Barbecue in Goldsboro. They also like Allen & Son Barbeque in Chapel Hill, which cooks pork shoulder but uses a more eastern-style sauce. All of their recommended restaurants cook in the traditional way, with hardwoods only (no gas), usually hickory. For more recommendations, check out the North Carolina Barbecue Society's Historic Barbecue Trail interactive map.

But Obama shouldn't even glance at the map, at least according to Reed. Between the offerings and the ordering, Reed thinks it's too treacherous territory. He told me: "I would say, 'I'm from Chicago, and I'm a ribs man.' That would work. Honest ignorance is okay. If you pretend..." He didn't finish the thought.